Is it possible to OD on taurine? CoQ10's extra ingredient worries...

My cat may have heart disease and I was planning to start him on some supplements for his heart - taurine is one. I'm just wondering if it's possible to give a cat too much taurine. One of his supplements, a chewable which he LOVES, will contain 125mg (per day, as I give him 1/2 of a tablet). Another supplement which I should receive shortly will also contain taurine, though I'm not sure how much it will contain because I've been unable to find any info on it - all I know is that it does contain taurine and that it is made specifically for heart disease. Plus on top of all this, his food I imagine also contains taurine. So would that be too much? Can you give a cat too much?

Another question/worry I have concerns the appropriate dosage and formula of Co-Q10. One of his supplements will contain CoQ10, and again, I don't know how much yet - I'm hoping I know that once I receive it. And I also bought him a (human) CoQ10 supplement because it comes in gel cap form, and I forget what I read now - that Co-Q10 is more effective or absorbable when it is administrated by gel cap? - that the liquid form was more absorbable? I forget my rationale, but I remember there was a reason for my ordering the gel cap form, and maybe my thinking was that I could poke a hole in it if the 50mg gel cap would be too much for him and squeeze out what I needed. I know I'm going to have a hard time figuring out what dose to give him because I've heard anywhere from 20mg/day to like 100mg/day depending on the source. I guess I'll have to run that by his vet.

My questions about the Co-Q10 are:

1) Is the ubiquinol form of Co-Q10 safe for cats? I know there is another form of it - ubiquinone? - that is also available.

The particular (human) gel cap I purchased reads as follows:

Life Extension Super Ubiquinol CoQ10 - with Enhanced Mitochondrial Support

     Ubiquinol CoQ10 (as Kaneka QH Ubiquinol)- 50mg
     PrimaVie Shilajit fulic acid complex - 50mg

2) Should I be worried about the form/source of CoQ10 in this supplement? Kaneka QH Ubiquinol?

3) Should I be worried about that second ingredient? - the 'PrimaVie Shilajit fulic acid complex'?

I'm so scared I'm going to hurt my cat in my attempts to help and heal him. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

Heart disease is potentially very serious in cats.  One of my cats died of HCM, a particularly bad type of heart disease.  All your questions should be directed to your vet, and a cat with any form of heart disease needs proactive vet care.  Print your post out on paper and take it with you when you see you vet. Or if your cat is already under a vets care for this issue, you can call them and ask them over the phone.

Do you know what type of heart disease your cat has?

From what I was reading Taurine is water soluble and any excesses that the cat can't use is excreted through the system.  Also read that it would take thousands time the normal daily requirement to cause an issue.  As for the other ingredients I wasn't able to find anything about them in pets, however did see that one of Cesar Milan's supplements has the 2nd ingredient in it.

stephenq, thanks for your reply. I'm still not sure if or what type of heart disease he has, but his cardio-BNP was high, so that's probably what's going on. I'm buying these supplements now just so that I'm prepared for tomorrow when we see the vet so that I can start right away, as long as it's safe to do so. And my experience with vets thus far is that they know nothing about alternatives, supplements, etc... All they know are prescription pharmaceuticals, and from what I've heard some can harm the liver and cause other problems - and his liver enzymes are already off the charts. So ideally I'd like to rely on only the prescription drugs that are absolutely necessary. I know heart disease is serious - I lost 2 cats to heart attacks, a year apart, and it breaks my heart to imagine this happening to him. Those cats didn't even have symptoms. They just dropped to the floor one day and howled in pain. I think witnessing that gave me post traumatic stress disorder because I'm constantly remembering the feelings of helplessness in that moment.

cprcheeta, thanks! I feel better about the taurine now. He so loves the chewables! But who is Cesar Milan? Is that a brand?

OK well i'm hoping for you that it isn't cardio-myopthy! Let us know!

cesar milan is a famous dog trainer, he has a show on tv. I don't agree with his methods, but he has his own product line of supplements and food for dogs

I add excess taurine to my cats' raw since it has been questioned how long the taurine is good for...my cats are fine and have expensive urine. I don't know how much taurine will help your cat at this point. Hopefully the cardiologist can be more helpful.

CoQ10 has some mild interactions with statins, blood thinners, and some cardiac drugs. Again the cardiologist can be more helpful with this. Good on you for researching and planning to be upfront about everything you'll give your kitty.

Thank you everybody for your thoughts and info. I'll let you know how it goes tomorrow. Of course they are forecasting snow - my luck.

I was thinking of giving this kitty krill oil instead of fish oil, but the two brands I narrowed it down to both contain 'vanillin'. I know cats can't eat chocolate. Would vanillin be okay? And are there shellfish allergy concerns as with humans?

Note: Found my vanilla answer - it's not harmful to cats like chocolate is.

http://www.justanswer.com/cat-health/72xj9-problem-vanilla-cats-just-spilled.html

I would guess it would be possible for a cat to have a shellfish allergy, but from what I have been reading Krill Oil is great for Cardiovascular Health and would probably really benefit your kitty.

I ran it by his vet, and he said Krill Oil would be fine, 250mg/day - just said to watch for diarrhea.

Hi there,

Can you tell me what the chewable supplement (containing taurine) is that your cat loves? Thanks!